"Drag It Through the Garden"
Exhibit Photos, Performance Photos, and Prints
![]() Drag it Through the GardenPromotional Card for "Drag it Through the Garden" Exhibit. | ![]() Drag it Through the GardenHot Dog Prints |
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![]() Drag it Through the GardenHot Dog Print Detail | ![]() Drag it Through the GardenPerformance Beginning |
![]() Drag it Through the GardenTaking orders for Hot Dog prints | ![]() Drag it Through the GardenLining up Hot Dog print orders to dry. |
![]() Drag it Through the GardenGetting busy with orders! | ![]() Drag it Through the Garden |
![]() Drag it Through the Garden | ![]() Drag it Through the Garden |
![]() Drag it Through the Garden | ![]() Drag it Through the Garden |
![]() Drag it Through the GardenSomeone enjoying a Hot Dog Print on the house! | ![]() Print Detail |
![]() Print Detail | ![]() Print Detail |
![]() Print Detail | ![]() Print Detail |
![]() Print Detail | ![]() Give-away Print Detail |
Process Work: Experimentation and Performance Study
![]() Hot Dog Printing on Apron | ![]() Experimenting with Linocut Printing |
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![]() Printing Hot Dogs onto Real Food | ![]() Experimentation |
![]() Experimentation | ![]() Hot Dog Print on Bun |
![]() Experimentation | ![]() Experimentation |
![]() Untitled | ![]() Experimentation |
![]() Performance Study | ![]() Hot Dog Printed on Tomato |
![]() Performance Study | ![]() Performance Study |
![]() Performance Study | ![]() Performance Study |
![]() Performance Study | ![]() Performance Study |
![]() Performance Study | ![]() Performance Study |
![]() Performance Study |
"Drag it through the Garden"
Performance and Installation with Prints
My piece “Drag it Through the Garden” invites you to take a step into the life of a Chicago hot dog stand through performance, installation, sculpture and prints. I am obsessed with hot dogs. I love to eat them, talk about them, learn about them, make them, sell them, and print them.
My obsession for hot dogs grew from childhood memories of eating hot dogs with my dad. Any time he said he wanted “a bite” we would go and get a hot dog somewhere. We traveled a lot when I was younger and my dad was obsessed with the idea of bringing the Chicago dog to Taipei, Taiwan, where we had lived. My dad decided to order three huge hot dog carts, and Vienna Beef products to start the business up in Taipei. Unfortunately, by the time we received the carts, Mad Cow disease broke out in China. This meant that it would have been impossible to sell hot dogs anywhere in Asia, so we were never able to start the business.
When talking about hot dogs, or my work with hot dogs, I see faces light up with excitement. I believe it’s because almost anyone can recall when he or she ate their first hot dog - whether it be enjoying a hot dog at a baseball game, or running to McDonalds to sneak some ketchup for your French Fries at Gene and Jude’s (a famous hot dog stand on the West Side that is known for not allowing ketchup in the building).
The Chicago Dog is more than just a wiener in a bun, “dragged through the garden.” It is part of Chicago’s identity, history, and a nostalgic memory. The inventors of sausages brought their “Vienna Sausage” recipe to Chicago in 1893 at the Columbus Exchange and today Vienna Beef headquarters still exists in Chicago as a primary supplier of dogs across the United States. There is a certain passion about the Chicago Dog and the relationship between the people who eat them and sell them that doesn’t really exist in other places. This passion for the Chicago Dog can be seen when you walk into your neighborhood hot dog stand and are greeted and acknowledged in a friendly manner. The vendor might know your name and what you are going to order. Even if they don’t know your name, the feeling of belonging and intimacy still exists. This kind of intimacy is becoming a lost art in the fast food industry.
The Midwest friendliness is part of Chicago’s persona and a Chicago hot dog stand is a symbol of that feeling.